Countdown to Zero
by MidnightCarnival
Summary: Who exactly is the woman Zero?  What I thought the book would be like if someone had a bit of "powers"  RR


**[In areas of north/west America, there is stories of a hooded woman with bite proof skin , and speed as fast as a horse who could kill thousands of zombies in one day and not tire. **

**Several ex-settlements swear that they were saved by the strange woman when their defenses were overrun. And even a army battalion that was cut off from the rest of its squad says that they were rescued by such a woman when they were surrounded by a horde of 500 with dwindling ammunition. The government is rumored to be searching for the woman, but it is a goal on the already burdened back of a post war government.**

**I found the fabled "Zero" living in the wilds of Alaska. It is highly remote and only accessible by helicopter, foot, or horse. On this journey I opted for the later due to my hosts reclusive nature. She had me sworn to secrecy to not reveal her location to the public saying, "I don't mind zombies that much, it's the humans I don't care for."**

**Zero is a woman about 20 years in age with hair cut in a haphazardly choppy style. Her original hair color is impossible to determine due to the many different vibrant colors she's dyed it with. Her eyes are a cold blue that has seemed hardened by the cold waters of life long before even a mention of zombies. A dark red tattoo stands out sharply against her pale skin that slashes down over her left eye]**

I have to tell you, you got guts coming all the way out here. **[Zero tosses her boots into a corner of the cabin before joining me at the table.]**

So what you want to know?

**Are you aware of the stories surrounding you?**

**[Zero chuckles.] **Hard not to. God, people are so desperate for a hero these days.

**Why do you say that?**

Your jokeing right? After the war we just had, a super zombie killer **[Zero does air quotes]** is just what everyone needs.

**But you don't want to be that person.**

**[Zero glares at me.] **Don't you pull that shit on me. Don't you give me a bunch of half assed justifications. I didn't ask for this shit.

**Alright, then why don't you start from the beginning?**

**[Zero's eyes get distant, and she touches a hand to the tattoo on her face.]**

I didn't have a very good childhood, ya know? I was the unwanted child of two teenagers in the low class neighborhoods of Seattle. I was more or less ignored as a baby, but when I got old enough to take a hit….**[Zero sighs and touches her tattoo again.]** This thing aint for show, I got it when I was nine. I broke a lamp, so dad saw fit to slice my face with a bottle. That's when social services took me away, neighbors herd the screaming and called it in, funny since they didn't give a rats ass before.

**How long were you in foster care?**

About two years, but then I got adopted by this real nice couple in Montana. Had a ranch up there, real nice folks. I had a great time with them, we were really a family. **[Zero's Face darkens] **I figured out I was different when I was 14. I was messing around in the barn and fell of the loft onto a pitchfork. Pierced me right through the chest, I was sure I was going to die, but when I managed to pull the thing out….I just…Healed. I was good as new, the only evidence that I got hurt was the blood on me and tears in my clothes.

**Forgive me. That seems highly unlikely.**

**[Zero glares, and leaves the room, returning with a carving knife. Before I can stop her, she pulls back her sleeve, and cuts her arm to the bone. I can see the white bone for a moment, before her skin heals over without a single mark.]**

**How is that…**

**[Zero chuckles.] **Freaky right, I just heal right up. That's how I survived the zombie shit, the virus doesn't affect me.

**How does that work?**

**[Zero throws up her hands in an exasperated manner.] **Hell if I know! Talk to an doctor or something. Cause I got no fucking idea.

**What happened at the start of the War?**

Well, I got home from school, I'm only 16 then ya know. Sure we all knew about the rabies shit and all, but we thought we'd be safe. We kind of held on to the belief that we were untouchable in our little small town….Where was I?

**You got home from school.**

Yeah, yeah. I get home from school and the front doors caved in, and inside is a group of at least forty zombies fighting over my parents corpses….I guess I lost it. I went completely crazy on those zombies with a iron candlestick. That's how I found out the virus didn't effect me. Shit, I must have got bit at least 70 times. Though its hard to tell when you heal from it immediately. **[Zero laughs lightly]** That house looked like the set of a Wes Craven movie in the end, blood fucking everywhere! **[Zero laughs heavily, before her expression sobers] **I burned the place to the ground when it was over….That's when I changed my name to Zero….

**Why did you pick the name Zero?**

Cause, It was all about revenge, ya know? I decided how many zombies my parents lives were worth, and it was all of them. **[Zero stabs a finger at me.] **Every single fucking one. I vowed never to stop until the zombie population hit zero, hence, my name Zero.

**What happened after you left your families home? **

I walked to the weapon store in town and jacked everything I could carry. No one stopped me. See, the zombies already hit the town by then. I jacked two magnums, one shotgun, one AK47, a pair of Khukuri Knives, Dude! I even got a Katanna out of it! **[Zero Laughs Heavily]** I had this big heavy backpack for traveling, and loaded it with ammo and food. Then, I killed all the zombies in town before heading south.

**What did you do down south?**

Not much, Killed zombies, wandered, got the god dammed cloak that everyone is bitching about these days.** [Zero walks over to a dresser and pulls out a old box, inside is a black cloak. Its designed like a trench coat with a hood, on the inside is a blood red scarf in the hood designed to hide the bottom half of the wearers face.]** This is what I wore in the bad old days. Jacked it from a **[Name withheld for legal reasons]** somewhere in South Dakota. God that was a stupid idea! Ya know what they call me down in Arizona? They call me the Hooded Demon, or the rainbow haired protector. **[Zero laughs]** Knew I shouldn't have taken the hood off. **[Zero runs a hand through her hair]**

**So you just traveled randomly?**

**[Zero shrugs] **Pretty much. Though I spent a lot of time down by the coast. A lot of people turned trying to reach the ocean , and you better believe zombies followed them! Hell! I was washing the guts off me for three days! **[Zero Chuckles] **I also spent a fair share of time down by the Rockies. I got to hand it to Zack for their persistence. They really had a bad case of the munchies. I meet an army battalion down there once. You could see their jaws hit the floor when they saw that there was just some "little girl" travelin around in one of the hottest white zones in the USA. **[Zero runs a hand through her hair] **They tried to convince me to come back with them, but I was already on my lonesome the next day.

**Why is that?**

**[Zero rolls her eyes and gestures to herself wildly] **Dude! I'm a freak of nature! One that can run into a horde of zombies and come out fine on the other side. Soon as they would have found that out they would have had me strapped to the medical table. And lets face it, us humans hate what we don't understand, just like that comic **[Name withheld for legal reasons] **

**If you were concerned about the government, why did you agree to talk to me?**

**[Zero shrugs] **Wars over man, plus you don't look the type to spill the beans. But just in case, I want you to know that as soon as the government tries to come within 50 feet of me, my zombie kilin days are done, but until then **[Zero places a gun on the table] **Zombie killing is my business.

**[After the publication of this article, the government launched several investigations into the recovery of the woman Zero. No sign was ever found. Several weeks after the first investigation was launched, however, I received a letter in the mail that simply said "Told ya so."] **


End file.
